SAFAGEOHISTORIA

COLD WAR: Phrase coined by an American journalist in 1947, but it was a newspaper reporter-columnist who gave the term wide currency, with a book. Astate of political, ideological, economical, social, technological, military and informative tension that took place since 1945 (end of World War II) and 1989 (fall of the Berlin wall) and 1991 (dissolution of the USSR) between powers in the Western capitalist Bloc led by the USA and powers in the Eastern communist Bloc led by the Soviet Union. It was "cold" because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars in other countries supported by both sides.

 

WATERGATE SCANDAL: Political scandal highlighted by media coverage by The Washington Post when the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex and the Nixon’s administration’s attempted cover-up of its involvement was discovered. In 1974 Richard Nixon, the President of the United States resigned.

 

MAOISM: Anti-Revisionist variant of Marxism-Leninism derived from the teachings of the Chinese communist Mao Zedong. Mao focused on the peasantry as a revolutionary force, emphasizing that the class struggle continued as a result of the fundamental antagonistic contradiction between poor and capitalist countries (not proletariat-bourgeoisie). He called for the equality between men and women and for "self-criticism" sessions, that eventually became internal purges that were harmful to the movement.

 

VIET CONG: (A contraction of Việt Nam Cộng-sản, ‘Vietnamese communist’ or V-C: Victor Charlie, a military designation). It was a political organization and army in South Vietnam that fought the South Vietnamese government led by Diêm in the 60’s and the United States. These communist forces, both Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, were supported by USSR and China. The war became one of the most important events of the Cold War.

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BANDUNG CONFERENCE: The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference in the mid-20th century, which took place in Indonesia to condemn racial discrimination and segregation, reject the blocs policy of the Cold War and promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose colonialism or neocolonialism by any nation. The term ‘Third World’ arose during the conference to define countries that remained non-aligned with either USA or USSR.

 

NEO-COLONIALISM: Geopolitical practice of using capitalism, business globalization, and cultural imperialism to influence a country. It began after the decolonization of the 50s and 60s, when some rich countries applied existing and past international economic arrangements with their former colony countries. The methods were the exploitation of natural resources by multinational corporations and the support of coups d’état or paramilitary guerrillas giving the power to akin governments. One immediate consequence: underdevelopment.

 

MAHATMA GANDHI: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma, which means ‘Great Soul’. Philosopher and politician that was born in India and raised in a Hindu merchant caste family. He was trained in law in London and first employed nonviolent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa. Later, he returned and led India to independence from United Kingdom. In 1948, he was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist after his country’s independence and division (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh).

 

ERNESTO 'CHE' GUEVARA: Argentine-Cuban politician, author, journalist and doctor, major figure of the 1959 Cuban Revolution together with Fidel Castro. He performed a number of key roles in the new government: minister of industries, national bank president and diplomat. Guevara left Cuba to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and summarily executed in 1967.